Our 24 hours on the subway

Few things will try a New Yorker’s patience as much as the phrase “we are delayed because of train traffic ahead of us.”

This was just one of many things we heard during our 24-hour, five-borough tour of the city’s aging transit system last week. We heard from frustrated straphangers about crippling delays that left them late for work or school far too many times. We passed through stations that completely shut out disabled commuters. We joined our fellow riders waiting in hot, stale air on underground platforms for our train. Most of all, we listened.

What struck us most was that not a single person cared who was to blame. They all wanted their elected leaders to come together on a solution.

Twenty-four hours is a long time to spend in the subway system. Still, in our respective districts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx, families living far from their place of work have it even harder. These 24 hours pale in comparison to the daily grind of delays, service disruptions and dirty platforms that the average straphanger faces because of years of neglect that have left our transit system stuck in the last century. People want that fixed.

The MTA has proposed a nearly $1 billion plan to fund emergency repairs to tracks and signals, and has asked the city to contribute half the cost. This is a good first step, but is only a Band-Aid. Years of deferred maintenance have left the system buckling under the pressure of near-record ridership with more frequent delays, breakdowns and signal failures. These long-festering problems deserve long-term solutions and can’t be fixed by temporary measures. What we need is dedicated, recurring funds for transportation infrastructure.

At the state level, we could begin by earmarking 2% of existing income-tax revenue specifically for it. This would result in approximately $900 million for statewide transit funding (including over half a billion directly to the MTA). Through bonds, this would generate several billion dollars every year for mass transit, highways, bridges and tunnels. Additionally, restoring the commuter tax could generate upwards of $800 million per year, with benefits to all municipalities with MTA riders. All told, these two options together would put us on a path towards bringing our transit system into the modern age.

There are other ideas many believe are worthy of consideration, such as Move New York, which could generate an estimated $1.3 billion annually and produce incalculable environmental benefits in the form of freer streets and improved air quality. The mayor’s proposal for a New York City income-tax surcharge on the wealthiest could not only generate desperately needed capital funds but also support the very worthwhile Fair Fares proposal.

We must all work together to solve this crisis. Commuters are tired of the blame game. They don’t want officials pointing fingers at each other. They want the leaders at all levels of government, state and city, to work as a team. That’s the only way we can give New Yorkers the 21st-century transit system they deserve.

Ydanis Rodriguez is chairman of the City Council Transportation Committee; Jeff Dinowitz is chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions. Each has oversight over the MTA.

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